


listen to the rhythm of my heart

by bitchasslowry



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 12:28:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28992183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitchasslowry/pseuds/bitchasslowry
Summary: When you hear about your boyfriend getting sent down to the Laval Rockets for a little confidence building, you decide it’s about time to go visit him for a while.
Relationships: Jesperi Kotkaniemi/Reader
Kudos: 1





	listen to the rhythm of my heart

**Author's Note:**

> this is a reader insert being transferred from tumblr. if it isn’t your thing, please disregard it
> 
> inspired by i believe in a thing called love by the darkness

You had just gotten off of Facetime with Jesperi when you opened up the Via Rail website. You already knew about him being sent down to the Laval Rockets from your dad, who had been sending you links to the NHL website and your phone’s notifications, but you let him tell you himself.

It wasn’t like either of you didn’t know it was coming, because it was almost inevitable. With two injuries before the unofficial halfway mark of the season and only a few goals, he was almost destined for Laval for a little confidence building. 

But it was still heartbreaking to see his face over your screen when he told you that he wouldn’t be playing with the Canadiens for a while, but rather the Rockets. You assured him that it was still going to be great and that he would be back with the boys in no time. He also had Cale and Matthew there with him along with a lot of other guys he knew. Nevertheless, he was still a bit sad and you could tell. 

That’s why as soon as you ended the call, you sent a quick snap to Victor asking if it would be alright if you went to go pay them a visit on your long weekend of school. He quickly responded saying that he’d pick you up from the train station when you got there, so you took it as a yes. 

While your boyfriend was off in Québec playing professional hockey, you were still stuck at high school in your senior year. The two of you had met when your French class decided to take a trip to Montréal when you were in grade 11 for the day. 

You and your friend stopped in a Tim Hortons to get some coffee and made the decision to sit down and enjoy your drinks. To make a long story short, Jesperi and Victor ended up in the same Timmies and sparked up a conversation with you and said friend by KK pointing out that you had a Habs lanyard poking out of your pocket. 

Now here you were, nearly a year and a half later booking a train ticket to go see Jesperi. It was pretty late at night and you heard your dad walk up from downstairs to find you at your desk, Chemistry homework nearly done and you printing out your train ticket.

“Do you need a ride to the station tomorrow?” he asked, sipping on a glass of water. You looked up and smiled. 

“If you don’t mind?”

Your dad ruffled your hair a little bit and patted you on the shoulder. “Of course not, kid. As long as you tell that boy to come visit sometime soon. I miss him too, ya know.”

“I promise I will,” you say back, nodding. Your dad had met Jesperi around a year ago when you two had first started seriously talking. He came to your city for a few days with the excuse being that there were ‘a lot of cool things there’ instead of just wanting to see you. Turns out that was a big fat lie and by the end of his visit you two were officially an item. Even though you didn’t get to see Jesperi all that often, you both still tried your hardest to spend weekends with each other and so far it had been working.

Knowing your train left at 7am the next morning, you decided to throw together a bag to take with you before falling asleep. Just as your eyes were getting heavy and you were snuggling under the covers, your phone dinged. Adjusting yourself in bed to be able to read the screen that was placed on your bedside table, you saw it was Jesperi.

goodnight, love u x

You smiled to yourself and typed out a quick response before shutting off your phone and officially letting sleep take over.

-

Your laptop was out on the table in front of you and you’re working on a psychology paper when the train started to pull into Brockville to pick up some more passengers. Just when you thought that you were going to be alone in your small space, an older lady came to sit down on the other side of the table. You were shifting your laptop over when she waved you off.

“Oh don’t mind me. Keep doing what you were doing. You seemed very focused,” she explains while putting her purse on the table. You smile and thank you and continue on with your report. After a while, your fingers started to cramp up so you made the decision to stop and leave it to be finished during some free time you had in Montreal.

You were staring out the window when the lady across from you spoke up once again. “Where are you headed off to? You seem very young to be travelling alone,” she pointed out and chuckled a bit. You returned it and shifted around in your seat to get comfortable.

“My boyfriend lives in Montreal and I’m visiting him for a few days,” you said smiling when you mentioned Jesperi. The older lady clasped her hands together on the table and smirked a little. 

“You must really like this boy if you’re taking the train this far to see him.” You nod and click on your homescreen of your phone to show a photo of the two of you after one of his games a few months ago. He was still in all of his gear from the game and you were wearing one of his old Finland jersey’s. Both of you were looking at each other and didn’t even notice that the picture was taken until after Cale had given your phone back to you and you looked through the photos.

“That's him there. He, uh, plays hockey.” The lady raised her eyebrows and passed your phone back to you. “I don’t get to see him a lot so… yeah.”

“Well you two are a very good looking couple if you don’t mind me saying.”

For the next little while you and the older lady, who you learned was named Tina, chatted about mindless things like your schooling and family, her children and grandchildren who she was going to see and other mindless things. 

When the train finally pulled into the station in Montreal, Tina and you parted ways, you wishing her all the best with her family and her telling you that she would watch out for any Laval games on the TV to see Jesperi play. 

You walked yourself out to the parking lot and attempted to find where the actual fuck Victor parked. It took all of ten minutes to find his car where he was playing Candy Crush in the driver's seat, sipping on some Tim Hortons. Old man.

“Hey, Vic, let me in. I’m freezing my ass off out here,” you sort of yelled through the close window as you pulled on the car door. He jumped a little before unlocking it and smiling at it.

“How could you possibly be cold? You live in Canada.”

“That's not the point,” you huffed and brought him in for a strange over-the-center-console hug. It had been a while since you saw him last and it was only natural to miss him too. He gestured to the second cup of coffee that was sitting in the cup holder and told you that he got you one too. Bless his soul.

It wasn’t a long drive to get to Laval. It was right outside Montreal and you could easily get there down some backroads and have it only take around 40 minutes. Besides, it was a good time to catch up with VIctor. Apparently the team was all doing well; Shea was just as dad-like to the boys as usual, Gally was still a little shit, Nate still shimmied and Suzuki was thriving.

The regular points of conversation came up of course, but when you two were about ten minutes away from where Jesperi was practicing you asked Victor a question.

“How has he been holding up? I was talking with him last night and he seemed okay but a little bit… off, if you will.”

Victor sort of shrugs his shoulders and drops a hand off the steering wheel. “I know he says that he’s fine, and I know he will be, but it’s still a little disheartening to be sent down, ya know? Like, he knows it’s for the best and he knew it was coming, but I’m sure he’ll like to have you around for a little bit,” he explains, starting to take some turns through the city.

You knew it was going to be a bit hard to figure out exactly what he was feeling, since he never has been good at telling you that verbally. His sadness just turned into a lot of cuddling and hugs for you and happiness was smiles and cheek kisses. 

It was probably due to the fact that when you first became friends, his English wasn’t all that great. He could still hold a conversation but a lot of the times he would throw in a Finnish word in his texts, leaving you to Google Translate it. So that’s why you learned his body language a lot better, and him seeing you now at his front door was zero exception. 

He had his, well actually one of your old and worn out, hoodies pulled up over his head. He honestly looked alright, but he didn’t have his usual, almost permanent smile on his face and that was already enough indication that he wasn’t feeling the best. But just a faint hint of the smile that you know and love was shown when he clicked in that it was you standing in front of him.

Jesperi reached out and pulled you into a hug, burying his face into your neck and sighing, not caring that the two of you were just in the middle of the hallway into his apartment. The two of you ended up staying like that, you lightly scratching the nape of his neck while his arms secured tightly around your middle.

“I missed you so much, you don’t understand,” he mumbled into your shirt.

“Oh trust me, I understand,” you responded, gripping him tighter for a second before pulling back and taking his hand. You dragged the two of you over to his couch where you could see he was already sitting and watching what looked like his tape from a game a few days ago.

You immediately took the remote and switched it over to Netflix and started scrolling, the bag that you brought long forgotten on the kitchen table. You settled on an episode of Forensic Files that he had already started watching and pressed play.

“Y/N, I need to look over-”

“Nope. I’m here for the weekend and you are not going to worry about hockey. Okay?”

Jesperi smiled and nodded up at you from the couch. Within the next few minutes the two of you were cuddled up next to each other with a bowl of popcorn in front of you to share. You were about three episodes in when he started shuffling around and pushed you back to lay down on the couch before climbing on top of you, tucking his head under your chin and smiling.

“I like having you here,” he sighed out, beginning to play with your hair. You simply placed a little kiss on his forehead and agreed.

The rest of the day was mostly spent watching movies and lounging around his apartment. But when dinner rolled around and you were figuring out how to cook the salmon that Jesperi had in his freezer you felt a pair of arms slide around your waist.

“What’s up?”

“Thank you. For coming here, I mean. You didn’t have to. I know it’s stupid that I’m, like, upset or whatever-”

You spun around in his arms and shifted him away from the stove where the salmon was now sizzling in the pan with some butter. “Jes, it’s not stupid. I’m still so proud of you. Everyone is. Fuck, my dad yelled at me before getting out of the car that he misses watching you play. And you know for a fact that man is a diehard Hab’s fan and wouldn’t just like anyone to watch.”

That makes Jesperi smile and dip his head down to rest it on yours. 

“You’re an incredible player. And I sort of already have a few people ready to watch your Laval games.” He cocks his head to the side a little. “A lady on the train. Don’t ask.”

You both laughed in unison before he moved a little closer to you and lightly pressed a kiss to the top of your nose. “Does this mean you need one of my Rocket’s jersey’s?”

You rolled your eyes and shrugged your shoulders.”I wouldn’t be opposed to it…”

“I like when you wear my old Finland one. No one else has that except you.” It was now your turn to tilt your head up and drag him down into one of the longer kisses the two of you have shared in your few hours in Quebec. His hands moved to grip on your hips and your fingers weaved into the hair right above his ear.

The kiss was slow and there was no rush or aggression to it. It was almost comforting. When the two of you pull away, you’re both smiling brightly. 

“I love you.”

“I love you too, but I have to check the salmon.” Jesperi groans at that and you chuckle lightly, backing up to get back to work. “Do you want to see if Vic wants to come back?”

He shakes his head no and leans back on the kitchen island. “I kicked him out for the night. I was hoping it would just be you and me…” He led on with a smirk on his face. You had no choice but to smack him a little bit on the arm. Jesperi stuck his tongue out at you in retaliation.

“I swear I’m dating a toddler.”

“Maybe,” he started and looked down at the salmon. “But you already said you love me, and you can’t take that back.”

You leaned over and pressed yet another kiss to his cheek. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr @bitchasslowry


End file.
